Content Marketing

How to Increase Business with Content Marketing Solutions.

In the Mad Men days, the best way to market a product was through advertising—it was king in the 60s. Marketing back then focused on print ads, radio and TV commercials. Four decades and a century later, we all know that content is king. And that makes content marketing solutions the lead channel in today’s marketing mix for generating leads and building business. Current industry data supports this trend: 82% of B2B companies have a content marketing strategy in place compared to 32% that are marketing with a print, radio and TV advertising campaign.

What are Content Marketing Solutions?

Content marketing is delivering information to your customers and prospects that provides ongoing value. The key is the value. Businesses share their perspective on industry pain points, establishing themselves as an authority, while at the same time introducing their products and services that can solve the challenges customers face through their brand story. Content marketing solutions are communicated through various media that keep your company top of mind when prospects are ready to make a purchase. The bottom line is to build qualified leads to acquire and retain customers, increase sales and brand awareness.

Some definitions of content marketing eliminate the fact that it is selling, based on its indirect approach. I disagree. All marketing is selling. And content marketing is just doing it in a different way. When we publish a brochure or fact sheet, which can be print or
digital—we’re looking to get business. These marketing communications tools focus on product and service benefits.

Within content marketing solutions, product and service benefits are embedded into the copy that provides the company’s thought leadership position. It’s delivering an industry perspective and reinforcing it with a brand message. When a brochure is a PDF on a website, this brochure marketing tool becomes a content marketing tool.

The goal is to build brand loyalty through information distribution channels—to have the prospects who read your content marketing solutions choose your business to help them with their business because what you are saying resonates with them and they have learned to trust you.

It’s critical to get your message out regularly—through every channel possible, consistently. The challenge is always how to get through the clutter to reach your targeted audience and get them to take action by deciding to get more information or make the sale on the spot. You have to keep the conversation going. Content marketing solutions demonstrate an understanding of industry issues and present how they can be solved.

Content Marketing Solutions Aren’t New

Content marketing solutions have been around for centuries. It’s just being done differently today because of the online and mobile technologies we have in place.

Case studies, articles and white papers are content marketing. Webinars and blogs are content marketing. Email and newsletters are content marketing. Even videos and images are content marketing. All of these content marketing solutions are designed to:

Generate qualified leads

Position the organization as a thought leader

Build brand awareness

Increase sales

Through content marketing solutions, you push information to your targeted audience when and where you want while at the same time expand your database of prospects. Once you have an interested business community of contacts, you can continue to communicate your brand message through a strategic mix of marketing distribution channels: website, blog, webinar, video, e-newsletter, email, social media—focusing your communications through online content marketing solutions—because that’s where the bulk of customers spend their time.

Another plus for content marketing solutions? They are cost effective to create and get the most bang for the buck.